topic Visa vs. MasterCard in Credit Cards

Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:49:06 GMT

Thanks to reading this forum, I've picked up on some basic rules for having a well-balanced credit card "portfolio":

1)Have at least one store/gas charge card
2)Have at least one card issued by a major national bank
3)Do not have all your cards issued by the same bank
4)If you have an AmericanExpress Card, always carry at least one back-up

Is there any danger (practical or fico) to having only Visa credit cards? Aside from Costco and Sam's Club, I don't think I've been anywhere that accepted credit cards but did not accept Visa. Is there any reason to diversify by getting a MasterCard?

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

GST2008 — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:24:49 GMT

Nope. It's a personal preference thing at this point. All that is going to show up on your CR is the name of the lending institution. All CCs from HSBC just come up HSBC on your CR regardless of if it is their MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover. I think I only have one MC. I prefer the Visa logo to the MC logo lol, no logical reason behind it.

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:37:21 GMT

As GST2008 said, which network a card uses (Visa, MC, Amex, Discover) does not even appear on your CR, so it's not something that will affect your FICO score.

From a practical standpoint, the vast majority of merchants who accept Visa will also accept MC, and vice versa. However, there are very, very rare exceptions, usually having to do with sponsorship. There are a couple of major sporting events, for example, that are sponsored by Visa, so only Visa is accepted (no MC), but again, that situation is very rare.

Message Edited by cheddar on 11-09-2008 07:37 AM

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:17:20 GMT

I would add that MasterCard is more popular than Visa in Europe. I always take MC (in addition to Visa and Amex) with me there as I've been to places in Europe that will only take MC.

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 18:29:32 GMT

Thanks for the advice! If I ever get to travel outside the US, I'll try to get a MasterCard before hand, but for now I'm not going to worry about it.

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:13:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would add that MasterCard is more popular than Visa in Europe. I always take MC (in addition to Visa and Amex) with me there as I've been to places in Europe that will only take MC.

Ditto

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:19:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks to reading this forum, I've picked up on some basic rules for having a well-balanced credit card "portfolio":
1)Have at least one store/gas charge card
2)Have at least one card issued by a major national bank
3)Do not have all your cards issued by the same bank
4)If you have an AmericanExpress Card, always carry at least one back-up

Is there any danger (practical or fico) to having only Visa credit cards? Aside from Costco and Sam's Club, I don't think I've been anywhere that accepted credit cards but did not accept Visa. Is there any reason to diversify by getting a MasterCard?

It depends on the issuer and your preference. Some of the benefits offered by MasterCard are better than the one offered by Visa...

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:31:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

It depends on the issuer and your preference. Some of the benefits offered by MasterCard are better than the one offered by Visa...

Are you thinking of any specific cards, or just suggesting I choose cards by benefits rather than network?

I'd kinda like to have both, but the cards I have right now are visas (CU and Chase Plat), and the card I would eventually like to get is a visa (Chase Freedom Plus). I'm not completely committed to this card, so I would love suggestions for MasterCards to look at.

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:04:50 GMT

Citi Driver's Edge Options Platinum Select Mastercard... or you can always apply for the Ameriprise World Elite Mastercard.

Message Edited by FaircreditguyFL on 11-09-2008 06:04 PM

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:17:36 GMT

I'm gonna think about the Citi card, I hadn't looked at it in that much detail before. I don't drive that much, and buy my groceries at Target. But with the Drive Rebates, summer vacation might make the card worth it. And it does have Purchase Assurance coverage, which I would like have.

A World Elite Mastercard definitely in my long range plans. Hopefully there'll be more of them to choose from by the time I can justify the annual fee.

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:23:10 GMT

The HSBC Weekend Mastercard (2% cash back on Saturday & Sunday/1% all other times) is a great card, too.

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:50:24 GMT

willowblue wrote:

A World Elite Mastercard definitely in my long range plans. Hopefully there'll be more of them to choose from by the time I can justify the annual fee.

A regular World MasterCard has almost all the same benefits as a World Elite card, and the AF is usually much, much smaller. No need to pay extra for a World Elite MC unless the benefits really mean something to you. All the major banks offer regular World MCs.

Message Edited by cheddar on 11-09-2008 08:50 PM

Re: Visa vs. MasterCard

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:12:40 GMT

Essentially it is the same thing; can't justify it. As a college student, I wouldn't really use any of the benefits. One of these days, hopefully, but not right now.